White Sea, Karelia and Perm |
| Riches of White Sea Area
The Finnish/Karelian fur trading area reached far Eastward, past Dvina Karelia and Lake Onega all the way to the Zyrian lands of Perm. This Greater Karelia was called Bjarm, which is a Viking name derived possibly from the Finnish Perämaa, (hinterland) which also gave Perm its name. The arctic held a bounty of treasures such as Walrus and Sable furs, and Walrus ivory, which the Norwegians were after, and the reason why they traveled to the Arctic shores of the White Sea/Barents region beginning in 870. The Slavs had begun their travels into this region already early in the second millennium, but the various Finnish tribes had been successful in chasing them away from their land. |
The Finns, who often fought amongst themselves for rights to the
hunting and fur rich lands were successful in coming together to drive
off the new wealth seeking adventurers from the South. Furs were traded
with foreigners such as Arabs, and this fur trade was firmly in the hands
of the Finns. (Karelians/Veps) The Slavs wanted it and the first wave of
attacks to the Viena (Dvina) area began in 1212. They captured the Perm
trading base of Ustjug in the region where
Suhona
and Jug Rivers join, with the goal of driving a wedge between Perm
and Karelia.
But the Slavs found out early that Finns would not give up what
is theirs easily and they chased the Slavs away. The area remained at least
for some time thereafter in the hands of their kings. But in 1217 and 1220,
the Slavs renewed their attacks with the result that the Bjarm Karelian
power began to falter. Norwegian traders stopped coming to this area in
1222 and inhabitants (with various names) from the east side of Lake Onega
began moving West. Along their ancient waterways they escaped from the
destruction that awaited. They settled in Eastern Finland and especially
Western Karelia.
To replace the lost fur trade to the East, the Karelian people had to now look increasingly Northward and Westward (Northern Bothnia) for new fur and hunting grounds. The Slavs were able to consolidate their strength in the aforementioned strongholds but at the same time, Tatar invasions from the East forced their armies to move and fight elsewhere. (This harassment from the rear by Mongolians and Tatars saved the Finns from total genocide many times.) However, Novgorod renewed their taxation raids to Perm in 1265 and consolidated further their acquisitions of Perm, Jugrian, and Samoyed lands among others. But in many areas they did not constitute a lasting presence for a long time. When Novgorod became involved in war with Sweden in the closing years of 1200's, the Perm Finns took back control of their lands. This situation continued until 1323 after which Novgorod again renewed its conquest of Perm, and lost it again in 1333 and 1337, forcing Muscovites to back off again for a time. In 1342, Novgorod again took control of Ustjug and Viena areas after forcing various Finns on the East side of Onega to join the Novgorod forces.
To conquer the North, the Slavs resorted to forcing the local population to fight against their own brothers. At this time, the Vepsä Finns, (Veps) who live South of and on the Southwestern shores of Lake Onega, lost their independence and Novgorod forces conducted a scorched earth policy in these areas. Although in 1364 the "Chuds" resisted and even attacked the Orthodox monasteries on the shores of Onega, they were finally destroyed. The Slavic conquests now spread and by the end of 1364, even the Jugrian tribes moved East behind the Ural Mountains to avoid destruction by the Slavs.
The result was that the Perm Finns (Zyrians and Votyaks) joined Moscow's forces in 1383 which were in competition with Novgorod for control. At this time, a bishop by the name Tapani the Holy skillfully dealt with the Zyrians and even wrote a reader for them in their own text. But Novgorod forces continued their looting and destruction in Jugra (Jugrians are not the same as Ugric or Ugrian - they are Finno-Ugric people, not Ugric.) and Vjatka, the Jugrians and Votyaks rose up against them in 1392 with promises by Moscow to join in. Torsok and Valgetjärvi forces joined in revolt against Novgorod in 1397 but the promised aid from Moscow did not come. They were therefore defeated in 1398 by a large army from Novgorod. Valgetjärvi Vepsä villages and towns were utterly destroyed, burned to the ground. The inhabitants were sold as slaves and their property confiscated. Russian historians wrote in their chronicles that the plague had wiped out the towns.
The destruction of the Finns along the Dvina (Viena) and Vologda increased without mercy. Ustjug was burned to the ground. But Perm, with its highly developed culture and scores of cities went untouched at this time. These were the events that set the stage for the 14th - 15th Century in the White Sea and Barents Sea regions of Russia in which time more or less permanent Slavic settlements were established in these regions. Having established their control of this region, the Slavs turned Westward to take as much of Karelia and Finland as they could.
The friction between Sweden Finland and Novgorod's westwardly pushing power during the beginning of 1400's in Finland's Savo province and Pohjanmaa led to continuing border problems, even though the border had been defined in the Treaty of Pähkinäsaari. The Swedish king had interpreted it to include Savo and western Karelia. However, he was wrong, the Czar wanted these areas, in the 1450's Russian pressure continued westward. Moscow consolidated its gains in Karelia by establishing the Solovetski monastery in an island in the White Sea. A temporary peace was established when Ivan III (1462-1505) conquered Novgorod in 1471. The vague borders became a focus of Ivan's attention and Sweden built a wall around Viipuri (Vyborg), and in 1475 began construction of Olavinlinna for the protection of Savo. This activity broke the aforementioned treaty in which the construction of new fortifications was forbidden in Karelia. The new fortress of Olavinlinna was, in the opinion of Moscow, on the wrong side of the border. After Moscow put down rebellions in Novgorod in 1479, Ivan attacked Savo and North Pohjanmaa areas, and a new peace was made in 1487 that redefined the borders. As a result of Moscow's continued increase in power, a papal crusade bull was announced by Pope Innocentius III in 1487 in which he called for western nations to unite against the pagan Russians. (Suomi Kautta Aikojen = Finland Through the Ages)
Who Were the Bjarm?
As new ivory became available from Africa, Walrus ivory became
less important. The wealth of Bjarm began to decrease. It became increasingly
unprofitable for Norwegians to make the effort to trade there and even
to travel south along their established trade routes. When Novgorod and
Kiev joined forces, this further decreased the Svealanders influence in
Russia and the trade stopped completely in the middle of 1000 ce.
Map of
14th - 15th Century Finno-Ugric Lands. (This is not a map of "Russia,"
since the Slavs had not conquered these lands yet and there were few borders
in the North, just areas controlled by various Finnish related people.
Russians slowly occupied their lands over 7 Centuries, right up to 1944.)
Note the location of Samoyed (red dots - handles show direction of migration)
and Saami (red circles) migration.
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